A Crimson Oath
by The Emperor's Empress
Summary: "Life? Death?" Golden eyes looked directly at heterochromatic ones. "It doesn't matter to me." She walked away, leaving a baffled Akashi Seijuurou behind her. As the Red Emperor tried to make her regain her humanity, he never expected falling in love with her.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One.**

For the first time in his life, Akashi Seijuurou was afraid.

Of course, tied up and gagged at gunpoint in a dark warehouse can do that to anybody.

Even if you're an Akashi.

Not that he would dare say it out loud.

Akashi blinked and winced as pain erupted in his left eye. He felt something warm trickle down his cheek. He cursed in his mind. Somerhing not better happen to his eyes or else...

"What the fuck? He's taking too long! He should've dropped it off an hour ago! Does he not care about his son?"

Akashi's blood went cold. So his father hasn't paid the ransom. Just... great. He'd rather lose his son than his business. The redhead smiled bitterly. He should've known that from the start. He was a fool to even hope that his father would do something to get him out of this situation. Turns out that he was in it alone.

As always.

"So what are we gonna do with him?" He heard one of his abductors say.

"After all that effort of kidnapping the sole heir of one of Japan's biggest companies, it seems like he is useless after all."

Footsteps were coming towards him and it took all of his will to stop himself from shaking. He cursed himself again and again. He never felt so weak and helpless. Akashi had always prided himself in being absolute — an emperor. But now, he wasn't so sure.

A hand grabbed his crimson locks and tugged at it forcefully, forcing himself to look at his captor. Akashi barely supressed a shiver when he saw him grin sadistiscally as a cold sharp blade ran under his chin.

"What to do with you now, hmm?" The blade was pressing quite closely now. "To think that we're not getting anything out of this... And you call yourself rich? Tsk."

His other kidnappers approached them. One of them spoke up.

"Hey boss. What now? The old geezer won't even budge."

'Of course, he won't', Akashi thought bitterly. 'It's my fault for being caught in the first place.'

"Hmmm... What do you think we should do to him?"

"Haaaah~ Just kill him and throw his body in a ditch. He's useless."

"He's quite handsome, don't you think?"

At that man's statement, Akashi felt his captor withdraw the knife at his neck only to be pulled closer to him. He could see the man's eyes observing him closely. He immediately felt sick when he saw the lecherous grin that appeared on his face.

God, no.

"Yeah, he is." Akashi shivered when he felt the man's breath tickle his ears. "What do you say, kid? Might as well enjoy ourselves with your body, eh?" Mismatched eyes widened when something wet and warm came into contact with his ear. The others had come closer. He was surrounded. Without warning, he was slammed to the ground and he almost groaned in pain but he managed to hold it back. No way in hell will he give this bastards the satisfaction of seeing him in pain or fear.

But that doesn't change the fact that he's going to be molested by this men.

The leader knelt beside him and removed his gag. Akashi shot him a death glare but it only seemed to amuse the man even more. "So you're a feisty one, hm? Well, never mind — I'll have you moaning loudly in a while."

Right then and there, the man began to strip. Akashi wanted to vomit at the sight. So he's gonna die like this? Violated and killed afterwards?

How the mighty have fallen then.

Catcalls and jeers can be heard coming from his other captors, only to be replaced by shouts of surprise and fear as they fell one by one, bathed with their own blood. The leader looked at his companions only for him to be shot smack in the middle of his forehead. His bloody corpse fell on Akashi, his blood soaking the boy as he squirmed to get away from it. However, with his hands and ankles bound securely with ropes, the redhead was having a hard time moving. As he struggled, he failed to notice the figure that seemed to remove itself from the darkness of the warehouse. Only when it was standing right beside him did Akashi saw it.

Akashi looked up when a shadow fell on his face. Eyes narrowed as he took in the sight of the figure on his right. Another bad guy?

No, wait.

He blinked as he realized that this was no guy. Aside from the fact that she was carrying a gun in her left hand. The figure — a she, Akashi can tell as much based on her silhouette — stood looking at him before finally speaking.

"Time to get you home, Akashi-sama."

* * *

><p>"You're finally awake."<p>

Akashi slowly opened his eyes and cautiously looked at his surroundings. It was dark in the room that he was in, and he can only barely make out the things in it. Not that there were a lot to see to begin with. As far as he can tell, the room only had the bare necessities — not built for comfort but for survival. Thick curtains blocked the windows, and on a desk to the far right of the room perched several monitors, their screens lit showing programs and codes that Akashi doesn't recognize. The gun didn't escaped Akashi's notice.

A movement caught Akashi's eye and he turned his head to look at it. What he saw was a girl sitting on the sofa, arms and legs crossed, eyeing him carefully.

'What now? Another killer out for my blood?'

"We'll be leaving in a moment. Prepare yourself." She stood abruptly to exit the room. However, she paused for a moment at the curtain, peeking behind it. A ray of light momentarily illuminated the room before plunging into darkness once more when the girl finally left.

Ten minutes later, Akashi went out of the room properly dressed. When he saw his own clothes on the bedside table, it wasn't hard for him to put two and two together.

His father had sent her to retrieve him.

Akashi, being the kind of person he is, knows the workings inside and out of his family business. He is aware of the fact that several dangerous people are affiliated with the Akashi Corporation. They are the ones who do the dirty work when it was deemed necessary, while some work as bodyguards for his father and other high-ranking people in the company.

But he never thought that a girl also belonged to those people. He never saw her file when he looked into their 'secret' employees' files, although he did see few females, but she was not definitely among them. She's too young.

Akashi narrowed his eyes at the girl who he assumed had been standing by the door all that time he spent preparing himself. What irks him was that he could not read her — another unpredictable being, like Kuroko Tetsuya, his friend and former teammate. But unlike the teal-haired boy, this girl carries an aura that makes Akashi think that he is looking at a blank wall that gets splashed by different colors only to be washed again to its original state.

Her head was bowed down, bangs covering her eyes. To a normal passerby, one would assume that she was sleeping, but Akashi could see that even in that vulnerable position, her muscles were tense and ready to spring into action if need be. She finally lifted it to look at her charge, allowing Akashi to have a proper look at her face.

Golden eyes peeked out beneath chartreuse bangs. They were haunting to look at — they seemed so lifeless, yet sharp and calculating at the same time. Her face is blank, just like her eyes, and her lips were set in firm line that never betrayed her emotions whenever she speak.

She reminds Akashi of a certain character in those light novels that Mayuzumi like to read so much. Looking at the girl, Akashi found himself comparing the two.

'Could she be lost, just like that fallen angel?' If the girl was, well, she didn't show it.

The girl raised an eyebrow at him."Done staring? We don't have a whole day so move it." Her voice was a monotone.

Something in Akashi snapped. "No one orders me around." His eyes glinted dangerously. "Not even you." Evidently, even after being abducted and all, Akashi was stil Akashi.

The girl was unfazed by his threat. "I just did." Akashi's hand gripped her wrist painfully, almost bruising her porcelain skin. With a quick flick of her wrist, she freed herself from Akashi's grasp. In a her usual monotone, she added. "It would do well for you to know that threats, empty or not, do not work for me." She spun on her heels and headed for the elevator, a speechless redhead following closely behind.

On the drive back to the Akashi manor, Akashi was silently fuming. 'How dare she defy me.' From the backseat, he glared at the lime-head — so hard that he could've bored a hole through her head.

"We're here."

She cut off the engine and they stepped out of the car. As they entered the house, servants rushed to the door to bow and welcome the young master. Akashi paid them no heed, and headed straight to his father's study.

Akashi Seito turned his chair away from the window when he heard the doorknob turn. His face was a picture of satisfaction when he saw who his 'visitors' are.

His only son and the youngest assassin paused at the door as the younger Akashi greeted him a good morning — out of habit — while the girl just bowed and said nothing.

"You're back."

"Yes, Father." Akashi kept his eyes and face blank, lest it betray his feelings to his father. 'He just don't really care', the heir thought as his mind processed the words that his father told him when they met again. No asking about his well-being, just a simple 'You're back', and that's that. In the end, he was just another tool to his father. Nothing more, nothing less.

His father eyed him for a few moments before shifting his attention to the girl beside him. "I see that you've returned him relatively unscathed. Good job as always, Cera."

The man chuckled when the girl did not bother to reply, as if he already knew that she would do that. After that, he turned back to being serious and looked at his son.

"There's been a lot of threats on your life lately, Seijuurou." He stated casually, as if he was just talking about the weather and not about his son ending up dead somewhere.

"I'm perfectly aware of that." Akashi replied without missing a beat. In his mind, he recalled his previous brushes with Death. It all started two months earlier, when a sniper was stupid enough to try to kill him in broad daylight, in his school too nonetheless. It caused quite a scare in Rakuzan High, not to mention that it sent a certain group of high schoolers with varied hair colors rushing to a private hospital in Kyoto when they heard the news that someone attempted to kill their former captain. It happened again several times outside his school, and in one business party, someone had tried to poison his drink. It was only now that Akashi was actually captured — not that you could blame him. He was fresh from training, so exhausted that he could not fight back against his assailants. He woke up to find that he was held for ransom and was about to be raped when a girl appeared out of nowhere and killed all the kidnappers without batting an eyelash.

"After yesterday's incident, we need to be more careful. If the heir to the Akashi Corp. dies, it will reflect badly to the company. That's why, security measures are to be done until we find the one responsible forall this incidents. Starting tomorrow, you will be escorted to and from your school, and I will assign a bodyguard to keep watch over you. We can't have them thinking that they can just openly threaten the Akashi's."

Akashi agreed to his father's 'wishes' and was dismissed from the room while his father discussed matters with the girl.

Cera.

* * *

><p>In his bed, Akashi lay on his back staring at the ceiling, thinking. He was being out of character today. His life was catching up on him, he mused. Looking around his room, his gaze fell on the picture frames that adorned his bedside table. Sadness enveloped his being as he stared at the picture of a beautiful woman hugging a small red-haired child carrying a basketball that was too big for his small hands. They were smiling, and Akashi was reminded of his childhood when at a very young age, he was already learning about things that were far too advanced for his young mind. He was taught countless lessons only to be replaced with another after he mastered them. Every day he would wake up only to be greeted by his countless private tutors and then after the day was done, he would wearily trudge back to his room to sleep just so that he could rest to go over the same routine the next day. His father would ocassionally visit him during one of his sessions, only to leave when he had made sure that his son was doing well with his lessons. At dinner, he would ask the same question: "How are your studies?" which Akashi would answer with "They are satisfactory." and his father would nod and tell him to keep up the work, that excellence is the only way to make himself worthy as a member of the Akashi household, that failure is not an option and that he expects greatly from his only son and heir. The young Akashi can only answer in agreement to his father's words while his kind mother can only smile at him. She had been his sole source of comfort — even going as much as teaching him basketball despite his father's disapproval. And then she died, leaving him behind. With her gone, Akashi's life turned hell at the hands of his father. He put more pressure on his son and increased his lessons without giving a thought to the boy's well-being and plunged himself to the family's business. Basketball was the only thing that comforted Akashi every day. Everytime he dribbles or shoots a ball, he could pretend that his kind mother was there cheering for him. His eyes shifted to the other picture on the table. And through basketball that she had taught him, he was given the chance to meet people whom he treats as his true friends.<p>

Akashi allowed a small smile to grace his lips as he looked at the other photo. It was one taken last year. Six boys and a girl after a game of streetball. He chuckled slightly as he took note of their hair colors. 'What a colorful bunch', he thought. He remembered the time in middle school when Kise Ryota, their blonde teammate, commented that they looked like the Power Rangers, only to run in panic when he saw crimson eyes glaring at his direction. Inwardly, Akashi had agreed with the Copycat's words, but somehow it was more amusing to watch the blonde scramble away from him. He locked on the teal-haired boy at the center of the picture.

Kuroko Tetsuya.

A person that Akashi would be eternally grateful to. After all, he was a shadow that became their light when they got lost in the dark times of their lives.

As the boy reminisced about the past to take his mind off things, he didn't realize that he had fallen asleep, a peaceful look on his face.

* * *

><p>Akashi woke up early as usual and prepared for another long day ahead of him. As his father had said, a limousine was already waiting for him the moment he stepped out of the house.<p>

"Akashi-sama." The butler bowed and opened the car door for Akashi. Once inside, the driver promptly left and delivered Akashi to the gates of Rakuzan High. Students stopped and stared at the luxurious car only to turn away hastily to their own business when their own student council president emerged from it. Akashi told the driver that he will inform him when to get him as he has further things to do after class and might be held up late going home. Once done, he dismissed him and proceeded to his classroom.

The room was in an uproar but the moment Akashi set foot in it, his classmates immediately shut up. The redhead pretended not to notice but inside he was extremely annoyed. He sat at his desk and pulled out some documents for the student council. He signed them and made the necessary corrections while waiting for the bell to ring. Around him, his classmates talked in whispers so as not to disturb him, but his ears caught the words "transferee" and "new classmate". They were talking excitedly and Akashi mentally sighed as he crossed out another unneeded detail in the file before him. Why they look at that matter like it was a big deal was beyond the redhead's comprehension.

Just as he finished putting away the papers, the school bell went off, and their teacher arrived a few minutes later. The students greeted him a good morning which he returned in kind before telling the class that they are having a new classmate starting this term. He called in the new student to introduce herself.

"Hajimemashite. Watashi wa Fujiwara Mizuki desu. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu."

Akashi, who was looking outside the windows, turned his head to the speaker. There was no mistaking as to whom that voice belongs to. Akashi do not know anyone who can speak in a monotone yet melodious at the same time.

There, in the center of Akashi's classroom, stood no other than the girl that saved Akashi's life.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2: Of Pizzas and Flying Scissors**

"Hajimemashite. Watashi wa Fujiwara Mizuki desu. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu."

A month had passed since the girl who introduced herself as Fujiwara Mizuki transferred to Rakuzan High. Akashi was assigned as her guide and show her around the school. To which the girl politely declined, saying that she had toured the school before. As to when, she did not say. Needless to say, she blended well with the students. With her aristocratic beauty and elegant way of carrying herself, one cannot suspect her of being a cold-blooded killer. She can even pass as an heiress of some random company. She was intelligent and athletic too. She reminds Akashi of a certain green-haired Oha Asa devotee and of a certain blonde model combined together. She was like Kuroko in a way too — although her obsession was not with vanilla millshakes.

It was pizza.

And it was what Akashi saw her eating at lunch break that day.

"Pizza is unhealthy." Akashi placed his tray of food on the chartreusette's table before settling on the seat across her.

The girl finished eating her pizza slice, even licking the tips of her fingers daintily before replying. 'Etiquette: check', Akashi's subconscious thought.

"It's not." She eyed his food with a blank expression. "I can say the same for your tofu."

'Ah, so she noticed.' Akashi picked up his chopsticks and muttered a silent "Itadakimasu" before digging in. A few moments after, he could feel the girl's eyes on him.

"What?" he asked, wiping the corner of his mouth with a napkin.

The girl picked up another pizza slice. "They're wondering." She gestured at the other students in the cafeteria who was obviously staring at their table. "Why are you here?"

"I see nothing wrong with eating in the school's cafeteria once in a while."

"Where's your bento?"

Blunt and straight to the point. 'Does nothing escapes her?' Akashi shook his head. "Some idiot thought that it was a basketball hoop and threw a ball at it."

"Must be that idiot then." The girl's eyes drifted to the door of the cafeteria where the rest of the basketball regulars just came through.

* * *

><p>"It was your fault." Hayama whined as he struggled to catch his breath. Running laps around the school at midday wasn't exactly his thing. He just had to spill his captain's bento and the redhead had given him hell for it.<p>

The muscled guy behind him grumbled, also out of breath. "You started it." They were only supposed to have a short meeting about practice later this afternoon when Hayama taunted Nebuya by throwing a well-aimed ball at his face. Of course, Nebuya wanted revenge and so started a ball-throwing frenzy in the gym. Akashi, who had left his bento on a nearby bench, was still talking to Mibuchi when a small "thud" and sound of utensils echoed inside the gym. The two stared in horror at what they had done, and Akashi made sure that they will regret it.

And they really did. Trust them.

"You should know how to behave. Sei-chan won't be so forgiving next time." Mibuchi Reo calmly said.

Mayuzumi Chihiro was the one who dropped the bomb on the group. "He's here."

"Eh?" Hayama panicked. He was not keen on seeing his captain so soon.

"Where?" Nebuya asked.

Gray eyes landed on a table to their left. Three pairs of eyes followed suit.

There, in his full glory, sat Akashi Seijuurou. In the cafeteria. Eating plain cafeteria food. He had his back to them, but they could see that he was talking to someone.

That someone was a girl.

And a beautiful one at that.

Questions erupted in the trio's minds but Mayuzumi was hungry so he waved them off and said, "Let's get some food. You can wonder about it later."

The trio stared as the girl who was with Akashi tilted her head in their direction. To their horror, the redhead turned his head and looked each of them in the eye.

They are so dead.

* * *

><p>Akashi smirked in amusement at his teammates' reactions. He nodded and said. "Yes."<p>

"You're a sadist."

"That coming from someone like you." Akashi immediately regretted his words as he saw the girl's eyes darken for a fraction of a second. It was only a fleeting moment but he was sure of it. Akashi was about to apologize when four people approached their table.

"Akashi."

It was Mayuzumi who greeted their captain. A silent message was conveyed between the two as Rakuzan's own phantom took a seat at the table. The other three was hesitant and practically shaking in fear but a glare from Akashi and they hastily took their seats.

Tension ran thick at their table. The only ones who were unaffected was Akashi and the girl. Even Mayuzumi was starting to feel uneasy. Maybe it was a bad thing coming to the cafeteria. How can one eat in an atmosphere like this?

Several seconds passed. No one made a move to eat. It continued that way until someone decided to break the spell.

"The food's gonna get cold." She bluntly said, and moved to pick up another slice. And just like that, the tension in the air vanished.

Akashi watched his teammates release the breath that they didn't realize they were holding. He continued with his meal as the four said their thanks and began eating too. Midway into their meal, Hayama started a conversation with the girl. He had been looking at her and trying to figure out a way to ask her

"You're the new girl, right? Akashi's classmate?" The orange-haired guy asked.

"Questions are useless if you already know the answer." She deadpanned at him, who sweatdropped.

"A-ano—"

Mibuchi came to his rescue. "What Hayama Kotaro-san wants to ask is your name, tenshi-chan."

Akashi felt his eye twitch at Mibuchi's nickname for her. Thankfully no one had noticed it.

"Fujiwara Mizuki."

"Ara~" Mibuchi sang. "The name suits you very much. Can I call you Mi-chan?"

"How about introducing yourself first?"

"Eh?" The ravenhaired shooting guard blinked, confused. "Ah, gomen, how rude of me. Mibuchi Reo, 2nd year. You can call me Reo-nee~"

Mizuki tilted her head, her brows furrowing. Did she hear that right? Reo-nee? Isn't that suffix supposed to be used for females?

"Mibuchi likes to think that he's a lady for reasons unknown to mankind."

Mizuki glanced at the speaker. It was the gray-haired guy. Mayuzumi saw Mizuki looking at him with an inquisitive look. "Mayuzumi Chihiro." He saw her nod in acknowlegment. He then pointed at the muscular guy who was busy stuffing himself with food without care. "And that one is Nebuya Eikichi. We're members of the basketball team with Akashi."

Akashi watched her interact with the rest of his team. She keeps shooting down Hayama, who was whining why Mizuki was mean to her. Reo keeps on insisting that she should call him Reo-nee, but she still sticks to Reo-nii-sama. Nebuya, on the other hand, tossed her a bag of pizza-flavored chips, probably his way of making friends. Mayuzumi was the only one who managed to have a decent conversation with the chartreusette, much to Kotaro and Reo's chagrin.

But something was off with their phantom. Something about the way he looks at the girl. Akashi was still figuring it out. One thing he knows for sure is that he. Doesn't. Like. It.

Why? For that, he doesn't know the answer. Yet.

They left the cafeteria 10 minutes before the bell. The second-years broke away from the group when they reached their own building, with Reo hugging his "imouto-chan" — which he paid for by getting a sharp jab in the ribs — while Nebuya punched her lightly on the shoulder, getting a death glare in return. Hayama was busy crying to say goodbye to her, though. Reo whacked him on the head before they disappeared from sight. Mayuzumi simply waved at her.

All that time Akashi had remained quiet as he observed her and her actions. As she talked with them, Akashi was able to see faint emotions registering on her face. While Tetsuya's eyes serves as the mirror to his soul, it was quite the opposite with her. Looking into her eyes is like looking at an endless dark hole. One can drown himself in those orbs and still be unable to reach the bottom.

'What if there was no bottom?'

In her treatment with his teammates, she had undoubtedly branded Hayama as an annoying little brother meant to be bullied, Mibuchi as a doting older brother having an identity crisis, Nebuya as an older brother who spoils her with her favorite food, and Mayuzumi as the sensible senpai who shares her sentiments on the three. But where does that leave Akashi?

You're the ungrateful brat that was entrusted to her by your father to protect you from harm or die trying, a voice in his head whispered.

Througout the rest of their afternoon class, Akashi could not help thinking about her. He was surprised at how easily she got along with his teammates, given her attitude. Akashi could say that she was a bunch of contradictions, and she puzzles him to no end.

It was Music class, and their teacher asked someone to accompany her on the piano. Surprisingly, it was Mizuki who stood up to volunteer.

They had Literature as their last subject but their teacher merely gave them a reading assignment for next meeting's discussion as he was busy with other matters.

He approached her the moment their teacher exited the room. She was reading a mesage on her phone when he reached her desk.

"Mizuki."

She turned off her phone's backlight and shoved it in her pocket. A raised eyebrow was the only reply he got.

"Gym."

She nodded then gathered her things. Akashi waited for her at the door and they headed out together.

As expected, they were the first to arrive at the gym. Akashi led her to a bench and told her to wait there while he changed to his gym clothes. She shrugged nonchalantly then placed her bag next to Akashi's and strode to where the balls where placed. She proceeded to make some hoops before barking at Akashi in her usual monotone, "Go change."

Akashi decided to let it slide. When he emerged from the changing rooms, he saw her dribbling the ball with closed eyes as if imagining an opponent. 'So she knows how to play basketball too...' She was too focused with her thoughts that she did not notice Akashi approach her from behind. Her eyes flew open when the ball she had been dribbling flew from her hands. She spun around and saw the culprit do a perfectly executed three-pointer on the other side of the court. The ball went through the hoop smoothly and Akashi turned around in time to catch a ball aimed at him.

"What was that for?" He growled.

"For being annoying." Was the reply.

"Care to repeat that?" Akashi was murderous. Mizuki was always testing his patience.

"Unless you have a hearing problem, which I highly doubt. So, no." Her hand swiped the air in front of her, then flicked it back. Akashi had a split second to dodge as his scissors came back at him with terrifying precision.

"Next time, I won't miss." There was a dull thud as the object embedded itself on the wall behind him.

Akashi smirked to himself when she went to the bench where their bags lay. He retrieved his scissors then went over to where she was sitting, the bag of pizza-flavored chips in her hands. He sat down beside her like they did not just threw scissors at one another earlier.

"Aren't you going to practice?" She opened her snack and took one before shoving it to Akashi.

"Thought you'll be too selfish to share." Akashi chuckled. She was about to take it back when Akashi's hand shot out and took a few chips. "I'm waiting for the others."

Mizuki knew who those "others" are, so she nodded and said, "Aa."

For a while, only the rustling of plastic and the sounds of chips being chewed are the only things that can be heard in Rakuzan's first string gym.

Akashi was the one to speak first.

"I wasn't able to thank you for saving me that night." Mizuki's face was blank when she stopped chewing to look at her charge. Their eyes met. "Arigato."

Mizuki waved the topic away. "It was a job that needs to be done." There was something in the tone of her voice when she said that.

"Hmmm.." Akashi took some chips and popped them in his mouth. His eyes were fixed on the wall on the other side of the court. "How long have you been working for father?"

"Ever since I can remember."

There was a pause as Akashi waited for her to elaborate. When she didn't, he decided not to pry and moved on to his next question.

"Do you mind if I ask how you ended up like this?"

"I was born into it."

"Did you ever thought of doing something other than that?"

"Not everyone has the freedom to choose what they want. You of all people should know that." Akashi saw her frown, but not because of his question.

"It's empty." Her voice was hollow.

"Ask Eikichi to bring some again tomorrow." He replied. She huffed lightly before folding the wrapper carefully and stuffing it in her bag pocket. Akashi didn't have the chance to question her on her actions as the Uncrowned Generals entered the gym.

"Fujiwara-chaaan!"

"Mi-chan~!"

"Chibi!"

There was a sudden yelp of pain as Nebuya received a well-aimed kick at his shin.

"I see you never learned, Eikichi." Akashi muttered as he watched Mizuki glare at their center.

"Never thought she'd be as violent like this..." Nebuya whimpered. Her kick sure hurts like hell... Eyeing her dainty figure, he wondered where she got that strength.

"Sei-chan, you're early..." Reo commented.

"We don't have last period." Akashi simply said. "Go change. We'll start practice as soon as Chihiro arrives."

The three were still in the changing room when Mayuzumi, already in gym clothes, arrived. Akashi was on the other end of the court, so he approached Mizuki who was sitting on the bench by herself.

"Mizuki-chan." He began carefully. She looked up at him but didn't comment on how he called her. She didn't looked surprised by his sudden appearance, too. Mayuzumi breathed a sigh of relief. "Are the others already here?"

"Chihiro-san. Yes, they arrived a while ago." She did not appear to be bothered when he sat down beside her.

"You came to watch?"

"Akashi told me to come."

"Is that so..." he trailed when he saw Akashi heading towards them. As if on cue, the rest of the team came out, ready for practice. He stood up to join his team where Akashi was already starting to brief them for their afternoon activities.

Training went smoothly as usual. Mizuki watched from her seat as they ran laps and did their drills on the court. Akashi was the one who called the orders while he executed it with them as well. During their break, she accompanied Mayuzumi to the vending machine outside the gym, saying she wanted to get one as well.

"Ara, ara~" Reo glanced at Mizuki and Chihiro's retreating forms. "Those two are getting closer, don't you think?"

Kotaro's head bobbed up and down in agreement. "Do you think they'll end up together?"

A big tanned hand slapped Hayama's arm. "Itai!"

"Shut up, Hayama," Nebuya warned in a low voice. For some reason or another, Akashi looked ready to kill someone when Reo mentioned the possibility of Mayuzumi and Chibi being lovers. However, it was gone when Nebuya blinked. He shook his head. Maybe he was imagining things.

* * *

><p>"That's the eighth time you sighed ever since we left the gym, Chihiro-san."<p>

"Ah.." Mayuzumi turned to his shorter companion walking a few steps ahead of him. "...I've been thinking about something. Sorry about that."

'I see she never changed — all blunt and completely tactless.'

"No need to sigh then. Whatever that is, I'm sure you're in full control of it."

Lost in his musings, Mayuzumi almost failed to realize that they had arrived at the vending machine. Mizuki got herself a can of ice cold pineapple juice. Mayuzumi got himself a can of grape Ponta, Pocari for Akashi and Mibuchi, and lemon-flavored iced tea for Nebuya and Hayama.

The two sipped their drinks and wordlessly walked back to where the others were waiting. Mayuzumi was fighting an internal battle. 'She finally cracked.' Gray eyes filled with regret and sadness gazed at Mizuki.

He had failed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three.**

_Hiro-nii, can't you hurry up? Geez, such a turtle..."_

_"Tsuki-chan, it's not easy carrying all this up a tree, you know."_

_"Your fault, not mine. I offered to help but you refused."_

_The six-year old boy sighed when the five-year old girl stuck his tongue out at him before retreating inside their tree house. He tugged at the bag slung over his shoulder and continued his way up. After what seemed like an eternity, the boy reached the entrance and hauled himself with extreme effort. He lay panting on the floor of their tree house for a few minutes. Man, was he tired..._

_Suddenly, a glass of grape juice was was placed beside him. The girl sat beside it and poked his face with her finger. She giggled when he looked at her with an annoyed expression._

_"Good work today, Hiro-nii." She flashed him a thumbs-up and a cheeky grin. "Keep it up!"_

_He opened his mouth to retort when he heard voices below them._

_"Hime-sama, your father is looking for you!" _

_The girl froze, horrified. "Hide, Hiro-nii! Don't let them see you!"_

_Too late. A man with dark glasses and suit appeared at the doorway of their hideout. His gaze fell on the gray-haired boy who was frozen behind the little girl._

_"You again. I see you haven't learned your lesson." He approached the two kids. "I'll make sure you'll remember it this time."_

_Rough hands grabbed the boy's shoulders, taking him away from the little girl. He struggled but to no avail. Another man had climbed up to their treehouse and was restraining his friend, who was screaming her lungs out. _

_"HIRO-NII!" She was calling his name. The man grabbed him again when he tried to run to her. He saw her eyes widen in fear. "LET GO OF HIM! LET GOOO!" Her last word faded in his ears as the man holding her took her away. He could still hear her screaming even though he can no longer see her. "DON'T HURT HIRO-NII! PLEASE! DON'T —DON'T HURT HIM..."_

_Tears fell from his eyes. After all this, even though she knows that she'll be getting a beating from his father upon her return to their house, she was pleading for his safety. Instead of hers. _

_'Tsuki-chan..." _

_It was the last time the two friends saw each other._

_The boy cried, completely forgetting the man still in the treehouse with them. A dark chuckle brought him to his senses. The man approached him, a wicked smile on his lips._

_It was the boy's turn to scream._

* * *

><p>"Report."<p>

Akashi Seito sat at his desk, ready to listen. A young girl, the same age as his son, stood before him, still dressed in her school uniform. It's almost two months since she started being Seijuurou's bodyguard.

"Nothing suspicious so far. Though intel says they'll be making their move soon. Still unsure who the target is, though instinct tells me it's gonna be your turn. I've already given your bodyguards a heads-up. Seijuro will be fine with me."

"Thank you for the good work. You can go."

The girl bowed low before leaving. The door slammed shut, leaving the older Akashi alone once again in his vast study. His gaze locked momentarily on the only painting in the room. It was of a sakura tree in full bloom, a red bird on its branch, the silhouette of Mt. Fuji in the background. He pushed away from the table and went to stand beside the floor-length glass windows. Crimson eyes looked at the afternoon sky, an unreadable expression in them.

"Soon," he whispered. "Soon."

* * *

><p>For the nth time that night, Akashi smiled and greeted another of his father's business partners.<p>

"Good evening, Kobayashi-san."

"Such a fine young man!" He heard the woman say. Her eyes took in all his features, though she did look puzzled at his mismatched eyes. 'Definitely an Akashi.'

The party had reached its climax, and the guests were now dancing or simply socializing (read: making business proposals) with their fellow guests over goblets of wine. The Akashi heir sighed as he felt a slight headache coming on. Around his table, he listened as they smooth-talked one another to form mergers and alliances with them. The redhead was relieved that their company don't need those things. How unfortunate it would be for the one forcefully engaged to him. It somehow sickens him how this people can do that to their children — using them as political tools. His head throbbedd. And to think that he still has school and practice tomorrow, not to mention that they are preparing for the school festival as well.

He excused himself from the table and went out to the balcony of the huge pavillion. Illuminated by the light of the full moon, Akashi could see that it is overlooking a huge privet maze with a small pond and fountain at the center. He was still gazing at the scenery when he heard something drop behind him.

"You're supposed to be inside."

Akashi was caught unaware. He turned and saw Mizuki behind him. He could only make out her face and hair, the rest of her body was concealed by the darkness where she stood.

"I merely took a breath of fresh air." He replied, turning his back to her and looking at the view below him once again. Ten minutes later, he moved to head back inside when Mizuki stopped him.

"Don't touch anything on your table. I'll be there shortly to deal with the problem."

Akashi almost told her that she has no right to order him around, but the logical part of him says that this is for his own good and it is her job to keep him safe. So he merely nodded, not asking for an explanation although her words puzzled him.

'She's cryptic as always'.

The young heir made his way to his group slowly, taking his time to greet guests that he haven't able to welcome in person earlier. When he finally sat back down at his table, he wondered what Mizuki meant when she said that she'll deal with the problem herself. Putting that aside, he focused on the first part of her warning.

"Akashi-san, the waiters had made their rounds presenting a new kind of wine to the guests. We took the liberty of getting some for you, if you don't mind. It was actually good — you better taste it."

He looked at the speaker. It was Kazuto-san, head of a mining company under the Akashi Corp. At his gaze, the man fidgeted a little. Even at his age, Akashi can intimidate older people even by just looking at them. His heterochromia just made it more effective.

He was yet to reply to Kazuto-san when all his tablemates looked at something behind him. He followed suit and was greeted by the sight of a beautiful lady in a white and gold evening gown.

"What a beautiful lady!" One of them said in a hushed tone. "I wonder who she is..."

"She's a half-breed, must be one of the reasons why she doesn't look familiar."

The girl went straight to their table, a small smile on her lips. She bowed politely to the guests and said, "Good evening. I'm Cera Milfeulle. I'm sorry for the interuption but I would like to borrow Akashi-san for a while to have a word with him."

Golden eyes clashed with red and gold.

Akashi stood up and took her hand before bowing to the guests and muttering a small apology, saying he'll be back. As they disappeared into the crowd, everyone missed the way Kazuto clenched his hands angrily under the table while he eyed the untouched wine goblet meant for the redhead.

Except for a certain chartreusette.

* * *

><p>"Green suits you better." The redhead said silently to his now blonde companion as they went somewhere far from his enemy.<p>

"Can't expose myself like that." Her face was blank again, done with her small act. They stopped at a vacant table at the corner of the room. To Akashi's amusement, the girl motioned for a waiter and ordered a pizza. When the man said that it was not available, the girl told him to tell the cook to make one. When the waiter tried to protest, he found himself pinned by golden eyes. He bowed asking for forgiveness and told her that it will be ready in ten minutes. He was practically trembling when he left to head for the kitchen.

Akashi chuckled, his headache from earlier starting to fade away. Mizuki raised an eyebrow at his mirth.

"You scared him."

"He's stubborn."

"Hmmm." Akashi agreed. "...so this is what you mean by saying you'll be there shortly?"

"They are making their move already. It's better if you're nearby."

"How about my father?"

"He has his own bodyguards. They have been warned." She spotted the waiter weaving his way through the mass of people, carrying her order on a silver tray. Hands shaking, he placed it on their table and swiftly hightailed it out of there.

Unfortunately, the waiter has forgotten to include anp extra set of utensils for Akashi. The redhead didn't seem to notice. He was busy looking at the dancefloor, amused at the sight of someone or another.

Suddenly, the smell of pizza seemed to be closer to him. He turned to his table and found himself face-to-face with a pizza slice on a fork, courtesy of Mizuki. She was reaching across the table and offering said food to him.

"He forgot about you."

Akashi was not exactly hungry. Also, sharing utensils is frowned upon in the upper class of society, even if you're married or what. He should've refused her offer, but something about the gesture reminded him of his early years, back when his kind mother was still alive. Throwing etiquette out the window, he leaned and took the pizza in his mouth.

The two took turns eating the pizza until there were only two slices left, when the first scream came.

"Silencers," he heard Mizuki mutter. "Come." She stood up and pulled Akashi up as well.

And with that, the two ran across the room that was now in full chaos, through the mass of people who were now running for their safety as well. As they ran, Mizuki requested something from him.

"Can you trust me?"

"I'm afraid there aren't too many options..."

He saw her pull a gun and handed it to him without fuss, before pulling another one for herself. She was shooting even if they were on the move, and Akashi was impressed with her accuracy.

"Duck!" And Akashi did.

That's how they managed to make it to the balcony unscathed. The girl would say something which the redhead in tow would follow mindlessly. The pavillion which was a place of merrymaking just minutes before now turned into a sea of crimson and fallen bodies.

"And now we jump."

And they did. Mizuki stood behind him, arms round his waist, and without warning, she threw themselves over the edge of the terrace.

"Ugh..." Akashi shook his head to clear them of dizziness. Was this girl insane? He stood up, and offered his hand to the girl. She looked a bit shaken. 'Not that I'm not heavy to begin with,' he sighed. She had been the one to cushion their fall, yet not a grunt nor a whimper of pain came from her. Suddenly, he felt guilty. Again. Of all people who can serve as my bodyguard, why does it have to be a girl?

"We're not letting you off this easy... BRATS!"

Akashi's eyes widened as a man emerged from the bushes beside him. His gun was already aimed at his heart. His eyes saw everything in slow motion as the man grinned sadistically as he pulled the trigger. He saw a flash of blonde, heard the sound of metal whizzing through the air, felt something warm and wet splatter on his cheek, heard the sickening sound of torn flesh followed by a pained cry, and then a heavy thud as something heavy fell to the ground.

"Let's get out of here." Mizuki hissed, making the world to turn in its normal pace. Her hand clutched tightly at her shoulder, blood seeping through her wound and through her fingers, staining her white gown in drops of red.

"Let's tend to your wound first." Akashi blurted out, actually concerned at the amount of blood that flowed from her wound. At this rate, she'll die of blood loss.

"Later when we arrived at a secure place." Her voice was steady — nothing's changed, even her face was blank as ever. Just how much pain can she hold in?

With a shake of her head, her blonde wig came off, revealing her long green tresses. She took a step towards the direction of the parking lot when a ripping sound was heard. A firm hand on her arm held her in place.

"I said no."

The redhead had ripped off the hems of his shirt and used them to bandage her wound. He worked on her arm as gently as he could, taking care that he doesn't jostle her too much. Through the entire process, Mizuki hadn't spoken a single word. She just stood there, frozen on her feet. Her eyes snapped back to attention when Akashi told her that he was done and that they can now leave. Akashi watched from the corner of his eyes as she stared at her now bandaged arm. Her hand absently patted the knot, as if unsure of what to do with it, and then she shook her head lightly. But what surprised him was when she quietly muttered a word that made him smile unconsciously.

"Arigatō."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: Unveiled **

Akashi looked out the balcony window on the east wing of the Akashi manor, taking a breather from the paperwork given to him by his father. It was a day after that incident, and life remained unchanged for him and his father, given the fact that the latter was hospitalized and one of his bodyguards dead. Thus, his father's duties fell on the heir instead — attending meetings, signing documents, the works.

At second year high school, Akashi Seijuurou can already run the company like a pro.

He gazed at the horizon, and spied a certain person who was doing katas instead of lying in her room. Mildly annoyed, he frowned as he watched her move to target practice on one of the cherry trees in the courtyard.

The night they returned, the redhead had firmly dragged her to one of the guestrooms, and ordered her to stay put while he called for the family doctor to tend to her. He was sure that he was acting out of character when he did all those things for her, but he honestly didn't care. Something about feeling concerned and protective about the chartreusette...

When he returned to her room later that night, she had already fallen asleep, still in her bloody gown. She must have been so exhausted, he decided as he gazed at her face. She looked so peaceful lying there, not a trace of the killing machine that he had seen just a couple of hours ago.

The redhead lingered a while in the doorway, lost in his thoughts. He saw her move in her sleep, turning to her side — luckily the uninjured one — and cuddled the pillow beside her, mouth slightly open. Akashi smiled at at the sight. He approached her and leaned down. He whispered a soft "Goodnight" to the girl and left silently, turning the lights off as he went out.

He returned to the matter at hand. "She still needs to rest."

* * *

><p>"Mizuki."<p>

The sudden appearance of the redhead behind her caused the aforementioned girl to release the knife too soon, thus missing its target — a falling sakura blossom. The flower fell unharmed to the ground, joining several of its own kind that carpeted the grounds of the Akashi manor in a sea of white and pink petals.

"What do you need, Akashi?" she asked, slightly annoyed. '_That should've been my 26th hit. Tch._' she thought as she retrieved the knife that had embedded itself at the trunk of the cherry tree.

"You're supposed to be resting." Akashi stated casually.

"I am." She faced him, emotions carefully masked.

"Doing katas and target practice can hardly be called resting, Mizuki." His eyes was fixed on her bandaged arm, checking for any sign of her wound opening up due to her previous activities.

"I hate being caged."

"It's not like that."

"Yes it is." She shot back.

"No, it isn't."

She wasn't convinced. "I do not like being held against my will."

"I'm just making sure that you recuperate properly."

"I'm capable of protecting you even if I'm burning with fever."

Akashi sighed. "Mizuki," he said patiently, trying to reason with her. Inwardly, he was cursing her for being so disobedient and immune to his commands. She was on a whole other league than he is, and as much as he hate to admit it, that was the truth. "I am merely concerned for your well-being."

"You don't have to bother about such things. It's not your responsibilty to do so." She was looking at something in the distance. "After all, I am merely assigned to guard you."

"You make it sound like your just an object." He pointed out.

"That's what I am."

Akashi don't know why their conversation came to this and where this was heading, but he replied anyway. "No, you're not."

"Oh?" She sounded a bit surprised, amused, and slightly mocking when she said that. "My former masters think otherwise."

There. A part of her past, no matter how small, was revealed to him. _That explains why I haven't seen her before. _His eyes narrowed when he remembered their conversation at the gym._ She lied to me. But why?_

"What they think of you do not matter anymore. I am your present employer, so what matters now is what I think of you."

She paused as she took in his words. With an unreadable expression on her face, she asked him.

"Then what am I to you?"

* * *

><p>"Then what am I to you?"<p>

Akashi was taken aback by her direct question. _What is she to me exactly? _

"For starters, I see you as a human being. And not the thing that you have been believing in before you came here."

That was it. Akashi had been trying to read her ever since their first encounter but he would always come up blank. As he had learned before, Mizuki is full of contradictions. She had no sense of good and evil, of truth and lies. For her, the world is all a shade of gray. And the most chilling part about her is that she doesn't care about life and death.

She has lost her humanity.

Or rather, she had forgotten what humanity is.

"Human?" Mizuki asked herself in a low voice, but Akashi heard it nonetheless. The word seemed foreign to her tongue. Her brain doesn't even seem to understand what that word means. Much less if it was asaociated with her own person.

As if reminding her of who she really, her vision dimmed as she recalled the nightmare that had plagued her ever since she could remember.

_Kill them all, Mizuki, their blood are yours to spill. _

It was that voice again, the one that seemed to dictate all her actions up until this very day. Slowly, an ominous figure appeared before her. It was a masked man, clothed in a black cloak, revealing nothing about his identity except for his purple eyes. He was whispering to her, the same line that he tells her over and over again.

_This is your fate, Mizuki. I am YOUR fate, and you can never escape it. Remember, I created you and therefore, YOU ARE MINE AND MINE ALONE._

His form slowly dissolved into the darkness, his last words sharp and clear in her ear.

_You're my killing machine, the Queen of my chess board. Soon, we'll see each other soon, my Queen._

_I'll reclaim what's rightfully mine._

* * *

><p>"—zuki. Mizuki." Her eyes snapped back to attention at Akashi's voice. She felt lightheaded all of a sudden. <em>Human? <em>The redhead's face came to mind, but she still can't shake the image of the masked man either.

Hearing that single word from Akashi, her carefully constructed world of grey seemed to shatter and fall apart, replaced by shades of crimson and gold. And now, she no longer knew what to believe in anymore.

_What happened to her? _

After her question, Mizuki's eyes just suddenly glazed over, as if in a trance. And to his further confusion, her face contorted in sudden pain, eliciting a whimper from her lips as she took a step back.

He stepped forward and grabbed her shoulders in an attempt to pull her out of her stupor. However, she didn't even register his touch, even if he tightened his grip.

"Mizuki. Mizuki."

Akashi was tempted to shout at her when she didn't respond to anything he did. At the back of his mind was a question that confused him.

_Why do I even bother?_

True. Just like she told him earlier, her well-being was no concern of his. He could just turn away and leave her be right now. It doesn't really matter. But why does it seem like his feet won't take him away from her?

Inside Akashi, an old emotion was being brought back to life. One that he was quite familiar with back in his Teiko years — before the GoM bloomed into the monsters they were — back when they were a team and enjoyed playing basketball together. It was that warm feeling that he associated with his 'friends' — that feeling of protectiveness he felt for his teammates. It was when he would fuss over trivial things, like when their ace would gobble his lunch without even chewing it properly, or when a certain shadow goes overboard with his milkshake addiction... simple things that never escaped his watchful eye. It was a time when he honestly cared for their well-beings, taking care not to get them harmed or hurt.

But all changed when he awakened his Emperor Eye. Since then, he stopped caring. Victory became his everything. He neglected his friends in his pursuit of success. He treated life as a shogi board. Everyone else became his pawns that he manipulated or disposed at will. Never dis he considered their feelings. For him, emotions are insignificant.

But if that's the case, why did he react strongly to her pain?

_Why? _He asked himself as he repeatedly called her name.

_Why? _When a sigh of relief escaped his lips when she finally woke from her trance.

_Why? _When he pulled her close when the first of her tears came falling down her cheeks, eyes pained in confusion.

_Why? _When he held her as she cried on his chest, while he rubbed her back and asked her what's wrong in a gentle voice that he never knew he possessed.

Looking at her slumbering form half an hour later, her head on his shoulder, the question still hung on his mind.

_Why?_

* * *

><p>It was already dark when Akashi woke up. He had fallen asleep without him noticing it. Looking at his wristwatch, he found out that he had been out for almost two hours.<p>

And also, Mizuki was no longer beside him.

"You're finally awake." Akashi looked upwards and found her sitting on one of the low hanging branches of the sakura tree. As graceful as a cat, she jumped off her perch and landed just in front of Akashi.

Her face showed no signs of the tears she had earlier — not even her eyes. The mask that she had was firmly back in place, her compusure aloof, much like the first time they met in that dark alley.

"I apologize for what happened earlier." She stated like she had just committed a grave sin. For crying.

Akashi stood up and stretched his arms, fully refreshed from his nap. He had been sitting in front of his desk that was chock-full of paperwork all day.

_I'd even forgotten about lunch. _

"Mizuki, come. We should be heading back. Dinner is about to be served," he said, completely ignoring her apology. Mizuki seemed not to care, though, and together, they walked off to the direction of the manor.

With his father staying at the hospital, Akashi has the whole manor all to himself. Most of the servants are already in their own quarters by this time, save for a few kitchen staff who had been awaiting his presence patiently by the dining hall's entrance.

"I'll be going to my room no —" Mizuki told him just as they entered the hallway leading to the dining room.

"You're eating with me." Akashi said, cutting her off.

"I'm not hungry."

"You are hungry." He grabbed her wrist — the uninjured arm — and pulled her with him.

"You cannot dictate how my stomach feels."

"Yes, I can." The door to the hall opened and the servants bowed as Akashi passed them by. On the long marble table, several dishes are served. Satisfied, he dismissed the servants, pushed Mizuki into a seat, and sat across her, as he usually do.

"I told you, I'm not hungry." She looked at the food before her with disinterest. She crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. She glared at the redhead who was busy putting on his napkin.

"I doubt you'll say that when I give you this." On his left was a covered dish. He lifted the cover and the unmistakeable smell of tomato sauce and cheese and ham wafted through the air.

He laughed at her expression - it was one of pure happiness.

"Hungry?" he asked her.

Her fork shot out, succesfully pinning a pizza slice. She took a bite then said, "Yep."

As she savored her favorite food, Akashi can only chuckle at her childishness as he also began to eat.

The dining hall was silent save for the sounds of their cutlery, but the redhead didn't mind.

It was a comfortable silence anyway.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the late update! College life is quite harsh, even though I'm still in my first year. As I'm writing this, I am supposed to be doing my term paper but then, I don't have the motivation to do so, that's why I decided to write another chapter.**

**And yeah, I basically borrowed C.C. of Code Geass as Fujiwara Mizuki. I am thinking of doing a fanart of Akashi and Fujiwara – I'll post it when I'm done with it. I just have to match the art style of C.C. to that of Kuroko no Basuke and voila!**

**To those who reviewed my work, thanks a lot! It means so much for a newbie writer like me. And for those who says that this is just another Mary Sue OC fic, whatever. YOU'RE LUCKY THAT YOU ARE USING A GUEST ACCOUNT. But either way, I don't care.**

**Anyways, hope you like the next chapter.**

**P.S. The plot may be a bit slow, but that's because I want to have some character development, and because I believe that Akashi is not the type to just fall in love easily. And I don't really write solely for the fluff. Again, CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.**

**Okay, on with the story then!**

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER V: A BUDDING RELATIONSHIP<strong>

"Oi, Chibi! Good to see you again!" Nebuya greeted her as soon as she and Akashi stepped foot in the gym. He did not seem to realize that Akashi twitched upon hearing that taboo word. The fact that he was practically ignored by HIS team didn't help. "Where the hell have you been this past four days, eh?"

"Chibi?" Mibuchi's voice echoed from the other end of the court where he had been shooting a few hoops. "Oh, imouto-chaaaan~!"

"Mi-chan's back?" Hayama's head poked out the door of the locker room, only to disappear and reappear again along with Mayuzumi's head. They both looked at the gym's entrance where the said girl stood beside their captain.

Their already seething captain.

"Doubled training menu. The four of you." Shouts of protests and apologies came from the other regulars of the Rakuzan basketball team. Amidst the racket, Akashi called out to Mizuki. "Let"s go."

They headed to the bench where Akashi placed his schoolbag beside Mizuki, taking his gymbag with him as he went off to the now vacated locker room to change into his gym clothes. He emerged a few minutes later donning a pristine white shirt and black jersey shorts. Rounding up the rest of his team, he started their training of hell.

Mizuki merely sat on the bench, watching them as they go through the drills that their captain ordered them to do. Out of boredom, she took out a sketchpad and a pencil from her bag and began to draw.

As Akashi passed by her while doing their laps around the court, he noticed her bowed head, brows scrunched a little in concentration, her hands making fast movements across the paper in her lap. Once in a while, she would glance up at them then returns her attention to whatever she was doing.

Half an hour later, Akashi called for a water break. His mismatched eyes gleamed in satisfaction as he took in his team's condition.

"You're all getting used to our training menu," he said as they walked back to the bench. Although they were sweating heavily, they were no longer panting as much as before, and he considered that as a sign. "I'll have to improve our menu."

"B-but Sei-chaaaaan~" Mibuchi can't help but whine. By "improve", their sadistic captain means that he will triple or quadruple the difficulty of their training — meaning they'll be taking a trip to hell's second circle soon.

"No buts, Reo." Akashi said, adding a glare to emphasize his point. Pouting, the sophomore backed down, not wanting to anger their captain even more. He still wants to live, thank you very much.

He turned to the hyper forward behind him. "Ko-chan, go and buy some drinks, will you? I'm too tired to make the trip to the vending machine outside."

"But Reo-nee, I'm tired too! Nebuya can go instead!" Hayama protested.

"Why me?!" The muscled center countered. However, before it escalated into another of their full-blown bickering which involves a lot of whining from Kotaro and shouting from Nebuya (and of course, a very pissed Akashi), Mizuki stepped into the scene.

"Minna."

All heads turned to her at once. Before them stood Mizuki, towels hung over one arm and a plastic bag filled with drinks on her other hand. She held them out to the exhausted teens, saying, "I'm not sure what you want to drink so I just bought those you had last time. Here."

Akashi was the first to grab a towel from her. "Aa. Arigato, Mizuki." He took the plastic bag from her, got his Pocari and passed the bag to Nebuya. Mayuzumi had already took the towels from her and did the distributing to the others as Akashi walked her back to the bench. Taking a gulp from his Pocari, the redhead said, "You shouldn't be exerting yourself." His eyes locked on her injured shoulder, hidden from view by her uniform blazer. "How was your wound?"

"I used my feet to go to the vending machine and the towels hardly weigh a thing. I used my right arm to carry the drinks and —" she caught him staring at her left shoulder. "—it's rude to stare."

Akashi sighed at her sarcasm. The way she acts just implies that she really needs someone to look after her. His "motherly instincts" — as Aomine had called it — kicked in, making him want to take care of Mizuki's well-being as long as she is his bodyguard.

"How many times do I have to tell you to take better care of yourself?"

"And how many times do I have to tell you that a simple wound would not hinder me from doing —"

Akashi cut her off. He is not having this argument again. "And do I have to remind you again that that is not the reason why I'm telling you to look after yourself?"

Mizuki huffed in defeat. "Fine," she grumbled. She went back to her sketchpad and ignored the man beside her. But it doesn't help that the one she was sketching was the very person that she was ignoring at the very moment.

"Sugoi!" Hayama exclaimed behind her. "Mi-chan can draw very well!"

"Eh? Let me see!" Nebuya pushed the orangehead and leaned over Mizuki's shoulder to take a peek at her work. "Wow! That's amazing, Chibi! Mibuchi, check this out!"

"Where, where? Oh, my imouto-chan's so talented! You really are my imouto!"

On her other side, Mayuzumi simply said, "You're a great artist, Mizuki-chan."

"Arigatou, Hiro-nii. But," she moved a bit closer to him and showed him the sketchpad, "I can't quite get him right."

Her pencil was pointing at none other than rhe emperor.

"Oh? And why is that so?" Akashi said from her left side. He won't admit it, but he was a bit annoyed at Mizuki at that time. How come she managed to draw the others perfectly but couldn't do so when it comes to him?

The chartreusette angled her sketchpad so that Akashi can see it as well. The point of her pencil was resting on Akashi's eyes on her sketch. "It's your eyes." She then looked up at him, gold clashing with red and yellow. "I just can't get it..."

He didn't broke eye contact with her, but holding her gaze with his own. "Well then, you're looking at my eyes now. What is it that you can't get?"

"Hmmm... Maybe..." she squinted a bit, gaze deepening. "The expression, perhaps? You do realize that you're quite a complicated person, Akashi."

"Is that so? I guess you're right." He broke from their contact when Mizuki's phone suddenly rang. As she excused herself to answer it, he signaled the team that water break is over. They had already resumed training by the time she returned. Picking up her sketchpad with the resolve to correct her depiction of Akashi, she found out that it was unnecessary. A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

He had done it for her.

* * *

><p>"Reo-nee, I noticed something." Hayama said on their way home. He and Mibuchi walk home together everyday since they live near each other.<p>

"What is it, Ko-chan?"

"It's between Captain and Mi-chan," he said after a moment's hesitation. "Is there something going on between them?"

Mibuchi smiled. So Hayama noticed it too — therefore he wasn't just imagining things. He tapped his finger on his chin and hummed. "Ah, so Ko-chan noticed it too. I've been wondering if someone else from the team felt it aside from myself."

"So you knew?!" Hayama almost shouted at him, stopping mid-stride and gawking at the taller teen.

Mibuchi reached out, finger under Hayama's chin, and in an upward flick, closed Hayama's open mouth. He resumed walking, his companion trailing behind him.

"Of course, I noticed it! After all, Sei-chan was acting a bit, you know—kinder and more mellow and all that stuff. Mizu-chan must be the reason." He clasped his hands and Hayama could swear that Mibuchi's eyes were sparkling with hearts and diamonds. "My Sei-chan is finally going to have a girlfriend! I'm so excited! When will he propose? And how? Do you think he'll give her a ring?"

Hayama sweatdropped. Akashi turning all fluffy and sweet? Nah, he don't think so. Akashi and romance just don"t mix. Even if said person's hair is red. As Mibuchi continued spouting his fantasies of Akashi's "proposal" to Mizuki, Hayama was getting disturbed at the images that his teammate's words make him imagine. And so for the sake of his sanity, and the world at large, he has to stop Mibuchi. And he couldn't think of a better way of doing it aside from saying, "Reo-nee, you do know that Captain will kill you if he hears about that, don't you?"

As anticipated, Mibuchi shut up immediately, eyes darting and looking all around him as if looking for hidden cameras or drones that might send evidence to the redhead.

"You won't be telling him, ne, Ko-chan?" he asked in a hushed voice.

"No, I won't. But only if you stop now. I can't imagine Captain doing all those... mushy stuff." He scrunched up his nose.

"What's bad about roses and candlelit dinners and fireworks? Sei-chan definitely looks —"

"Reo-nee," Hayama intervened. "I'm telling Captain."

The rest of the way was walked in silence.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, inside their limousine, Akashi was going over some papers from the council when his father called, telling him that he would be gone for a couple of weeks to attend some overseas business transaction thus he would be leaving the company to the heir. Akashi assured his father that he would attend to his duties, but inwardly, he was annoyed at having to reorganize his schedule again. Even though he is used to this, that doesn't mean that he would not get a bit irritated when it happens.<p>

Beside him, Mizuki noticed the sudden darkening of his mood, evident by the way he tightened his grip on the documents in his hand.

"You're crumpling the papers, Akashi."

His grip loosened immediately as a low chuckle escaped from his lips. "Your concern for the papers is most touching, Mizuki."

"I assume that was your father just now. No one can annoy you like he does. What did he do now?"

Akashi replaced his phone in his pocket with a smirk. "How perceptive. Tou-san just flew to London and left the company to me for a couple of weeks. He effectively ruined my schedule."

"I see. I'll help if I can be of any use to you."

"Thank you for the offer, but I'd rather have you resting in your room this weekend."

"Aren't you being a hypocrite by telling me to rest while you go and overwork yourself?" Mizuki asked.

"I'm used to it." He replied.

"And I've suffered worse. So it's either you let me help you or I'll go and train."

Akashi turned to her and brought his face close t hers. Eyes locked, but no one backed down. He narrowed heterochromatic eyes at her.

"Is that an ultimatum, Mizuki?"

"Yes." was the firm reply.

"Fine," he sighed and leaned back in his seat. "I'll let you help."

"Good."

As the car turned in the driveway of the manor, Akashi smirked.

Mizuki sure knows how to bargain.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX: WORKING FOR THE EMPEROR**

"Akashi—?" Mizuki paused on the door of the redhead's study where he was supposed to be working on their company's reports. In her hand was a perfectly balanced tray containing a cup of tea and a slice of red velvet cake.

Which was a bit odd considering that it is already past midnight.

Akashi had started working on what his father had assigned him to do, starting with an analysis of a report on the corporation's aim to expand their business even further abroad. After finishing his work on three out of seven possible countries, Akashi decided to take a break from all that business talks and called Mizuki to show him her work concerning the upcoming school festival.

The emperor was surprised at Mizuki's decisions about the booth proposals — her comments and observations were right on the mark (and pretty blunt). In neat handwriting, she wrote small comments on the sides of the paper with a blue pen, and in pencil, she added some "personal takes" on the booths.

Assured that his "assistant" was doing just fine, he handed the papers back to her, complimented her on her satisfactory performance (he received a mild glare at this), explained some of the things that she didn't quite understood, and left her to her own devices as he continued with his own. Given that it was a Friday night, all the staff of the manor had already went home to spend the weekends with their families. Thus, the two teenagers basically holed themselves up in Akashi's study right after eating dinner and busied themselves with all the paperwork.

Hours passed as Mizuki continued reading the proposals and making the appropriate comments while Akashi was typing his report on his laptop. As the night grew deeper, the redhead's typing slowed down a little. Mizuki glanced up in time to see him about to fall face first on his keyboard as sleep was about to overtake him. Deciding to save him from the pain of coming face to face with the laptop, she called out his name to bring him back to the world of the living.

"Akashi."

Heterochromatic eyes widened and Akashi jerked his head back in time to avoid a painful collision. Glancing at the clock silently ticking on the wall, he saw that it was already 1:43 am.

Which gives him about six hours to finish all the report analyses and to give a reply to a couple of business proposals.

"I'll get you some food." Mizuki said quietly, and excused herself from her work table. She was gone before Akashi, in his drowsy state, could do anything.

Which brings her to her current predicament.

Akashi Seijuurou had fallen asleep.

Invincible he may seem to be, but even the Red Emperor has his limits. Their training yesterday afternoon was a bit harsh, given that practice would be temporarily put on hold due to the festival, not to mention that this is also the third all-nighter that Akashi had pulled in a row. His father had been dumping him lots of work lately, and with his own work like his academics, plus his duties as student council president and basketball club president, time management was practically useless and the heir was forced to resort to such measures as foregoing much needed sleep just to meet what was expected of him.

Mizuki gazed at Akashi's sleeping face. He looked so peaceful with his head laid sideways on his arm that was draped across the study table. His laptop was pushed a bit to the side, ignored for the time being. She placed the tray on the coffee table and sat on the chair before Akashi's table, and contemplated on her next course of action.

Her eyes strayed to the laptop, its screen displaying a half-written analysis on the report about China. She checked his work and found out that this was the last one. Well, aside from the business proposals, though.

Hesitatingly, not wanting to break his peaceful slumber, she reached out and poked Akashi's nose. "Akashi, wake up." She leaned closer. "Your work is not done yet. Wake up."

His eyelids fluttered at the intrusion.

"Hnnn.." he muttered. He struggled to open his eyes. Obviously, his brain refused to cooperate with him, not when it was finally getting its much needed rest. Akashi barely registered Mizuki's voice as she too tried to take him away from the clutches of dreamland.

Mizuki reakized that poking him on the nose was not as effective as she thought it would be, given the fact that the redhead was not really fond of physical contact as she had observed, so she changed tactics. Getting out of her seat, she went to his side and brought her lips near his ear, and spoke none too gently.

"Akashi, WAKE UP."

She straightened just as Akashi's head shot up , a glare on his face, all traces of sleep now gone from him. He turned to the blank-faced girl beside him, and asked in a menacing tone, "What do you think your doing?"

Mizuki shrugged her shoulders before getting the tray she had brought in earlier. "Exactly what it looks like, Akashi. Now" she set the tray of tea and cake before him, pushing his laptop away, "if you would." She looked pointedly at him, then back to the food. When Akashi didn't respond, she spoke again. "My previous masters used to do this whenever they do late night work, saying it helped clear their minds or whatever."

The redhead's eyebrow raised a little at this bit of information about Mizuki's past. He had known that she ha worked for several persons in the past, though she refused to name names, which he of course respected, but what she said earlier told him that she do not merely stay in the shadows as a bodyguard, but had more or less acted as a daily companion to her "masters". This explains why, even though she lacked understanding of human behavior, she is perfectly versed in the world of business and the underlying politics beneath it. Curious as he is, Akashi just can't seem to force Mizuki to answer all of his questions, knowing that the past is not a good thing to recall for the girl, and she will certainly refuse to answer him no matter how hard he try to question her.

He brought the cup to his lips, and drank the still warm Earl Gray. Mizuki was quick to note her employer's preferences, an amazing feat that she does through observation and mere analysis. As he set the cup back on the table, he pushed the cake to her. "Then you will take the cake."

"It was meant for you to eat - the sugar might help you in staying awake for a while."

He shook his head. "The tea is fine, Mizuki. And I won't take no for an answer."

The girl paused for a moment as if remembering something. He bit back a chuckle. "I do like red velvet, but I don't feel like eating any as of the moment."

"I see." Her confusion gone, she took the plate and brought it with her to the coffee table where she had been working earlier. No words were exchanged as the sound of pen scratching on paper and the sounds of the keyboard filled the room. Once in a while though, Mizuki would look up at him.

'_He looks tired.' _As she glanced at the amount of paperwork that she had been doing for him, and to those of the company, she was actually amazed at her master's will. Unlike her previous employers, not once did she hear a single complaint from Akashi, even though he was by far the youngest that she had worked for. He was always composed and sure of himself, not a single flaw in sight. However, Mizuki can see right through him, though. And given that she stayed beside him almost 24 hours a day, she had certainly seen him at his weak moments, just like earlier. '_What should I do?_' _  
><em>

* * *

><p><em>"Cera!"<em>

_"Hai, goshuujinsama."_

_Her eyes took in the state of her employer. Eyes red from lack of sleep, unfocused from exhaustion. He beckoned her to move closer with a wave of his hand. She ignored the wild look in his eyes as she stood right in front of him. Instead, she braced herself for what was sure to follow._

_The man's hand reached back and slapped her hard on the cheek. She didn't react as he pulled her hair and brought her face inches from his. Her lack of emotion seemed to piss the man even more as he slapped her again. He laughed at her face, like a madman._

_"You liked getting hurt, don't you? You bitch? Why don't you defend yourself? I've seen how you killed all those thugs last week. Why can't you do it?"_

_She answered her rehearsed speech, words that the man wanted to her. "I cannot harm you, master. I am sworn to protect you."_

_The man laughed as he pushed her roughly away. He turned back to his table, where piles of paperwork awaited him. He grimaced as he remembered that his business is now failing, but as he recalled his servant's words earlier, he smiled. As long as he get to control someone, things are going to be well. Even if fully knows that that person can just simply kill with a single blow. Not that she would try to._

_Behind him, the girl picked herself up and retreated back to her position near the doorway, as she stood in vigil over the man who employed her struggled to revive his dwindling empire. She waited patiently as the clock ticked silently above her._

_Dawn is not far off._

* * *

><p>Later that day, Akashi woke up with a stiff neck as a result from falling asleep on his desk. He had finished everything by half past three in the morning, and had mailed it to his father. He had just clicked the 'Send' button before he finally gave in to exhaustion, not even bothering to wait for his father's confirmation message that he had received the files. It was unnecessary. He was sure that his work was more than satisfactory and his father won't have any complaints about it. And so, he closed his tired eyes for the second time in three days.<p>

The sun was already up in the sky when Akashi ventured downstairs. The manor was empty, except for him and Mizuki, who was nowhere to be found. A sizzling noise in the kitchen though informed him that she was already up and about, probably making breakfast. He assumed that she knows how to cook - she's reliable in a lot of things aside from killing people.

Mizuki was already setting the table when he entered the dining room. Her hair was put up in a messy bun, showing off her slender neck. She wore a frilly apron that the cook wore over her light yellow dress. She doesn't look like an assassin - instead, she looks so... domesticated.

"You're finally awake." She said as a way of greeting as she placed two plates of omelet on the table. Akashi remembered that that was the first thing that she had ever said to him. "I thought I have to go up there and wake you up."

"No need to do that." He walked past her and to the cupboards as he took out two plates and cutlery for them to use. As they finished with setting up the table, they sat down and began to eat. Both said their thanks, and on the first taste, Akashi complimented her cooking.

"What were you doing up so early?" He asked her.

"I have to cook breakfast." She took another bite of her omelet. "Have you gotten enough sleep?"

He was momentarily taken aback by her question. Concern - is that it?

"Of course. I'm quite used to this. How was your wound?"

She was half-tempted to roll her eyes. "It's perfectly healed. See?" She turned a bit to show him her bare shoulder, where only a pale pink scar remained of her injury. "What are we going to work on next?"

"Nothing more. You've done a great job for the school fair. You would have been a great addition to the student body."

"Do as you will."

"It's mere observation. By the way, we'll be going to Tokyo later this afternoon. I have to meet some people."

Mizuki nodded. "Time?"

"We'll take the 12:00 train. We'll eat lunch outside."

"Fine."

When they were done with breakfast, Akashi helped Mizuki wash the dishes (despite the girl's protests) and went to their own rooms to prepare for their trip later.

"I'll call you when it's time to go."

"Hai."


	7. Chapter 7: The Empress

**CHAPTER SEVEN: THE EMPRESS**

"Tetsu-kuuuuun~!"

Aomine grimaced as Momoi practically shouted Kuroko's name in the middle of the streets of Tokyo. There, on the other side, stood the tealhead along with Kagami, who, like Aomine, had his face all scrunched up upon hearing the pinkette's voice.

Grudgingly, Aomine followed his childhood friend as she crossed the road to get to Kuroko. She immediately hugged him, and the tanned ace had to pull her off him to make a proper greeting to Kuroko.

"Tetsu-kun, nice to see you here! What are you and Kagamin doing here?" Momoi asked.

"Kagami-kun went to the mall to buy the newest design of his fave brand of basketball shoes. I merely tagged along since I don't have anything to do today. What about you and Aomine-kun, Momoi-san?"

"Ah! I met Dai-chan on a bookstore—"

"He really goes to a bookstore?" Kagami asked, surprised.

"Don't get the wrong idea, Kagami-kun. Aomine-kun do not go to the bookstores for a proper reason." Kuroko said.

"He only goes there to buy his gravure magazines." Momoi finished with a pout.

"O-oi! What's wrong with that? A magazine is still a book! Quit ganging up on me!" He turned to Kagami. "And you!" He pointed his finger at the sniggering redhead. "What are you laughing about? You—"

Kagami was about to make a witty retort when something — rather, someone caught his eye. He swatted Aomine's hand away and raised his head to get a better look. There was no mistaking that vivid red hair and regal air that surrounds the said person. Walking towards them was no other than the leader of the Generation of Miracles himself, Akashi Seijūro.

"Oi, isn't that Akashi?" Kagami said. He was not really keen on meeting the redhead, as they somewhat have a very unpleasant first meeting, even though they had somehow come to terms during the Winter Cup Finals. Something about the smaller redhead unnerves Kagami, making him uneasy or nervous whenever he is around.

Three heads turned to look at where Kagami indicated with his gaze, and sure enough, they saw Akashi in his full glory, dressed casually in a red long sleeved polo and dark pants paired with black Chucks. After a whole minute of staring at Akashi, the four realized that he was not alone.

Walking side by side with the feared emperor was a lime-haired girl dressed in a black turtleneck dress that reached just above her knees. It was beautifully complimented by her black open-toed sandals with laces that wrapped around up to her slender calves. The two were talking while walking like they had all the time in the world, not even bothering to look where they were going as the crowd seems to make way for them. The girl's face showed little to no emotion, while Akashi on the other hand seemed to be relaxed and carefree.

"Aren't we gonna hide or something?" Kagami asked his companions. He is so not looking forward to meeting Akashi again.

"Iie. He already knows we've seen him. It wouldn't be wise if we suddenly turn our backs on him." Kuroko said. Out of the four of them, the phantom player was the least affected of Akashi's presence. "I'll go and greet him." He said before walking towards the pair.

"Oi, Kuroko!"

* * *

><p>Mizuki stopped midsentence as she noticed a certain tealhead who was approaching them. "Akashi, one of your teammates is coming towards us."<p>

The redhead looked forward, and his eyes met sky blue ones. He saw Kuroko bow slightly at him, which he returned with a nod of his own. Taking Mizuki's hand, Akashi said, "It's Kuroko Tetsuya. He's on my team in middle school."

"Akashi-kun, nice to see you again." The ever polite Kuroko greeted him.

"Tetsuya. Nice to see you too." He gestured to the girl beside him. "Tetsuya, this is Mizuki. Mizuki, Tetsuya."

"Akashi-kun, I suppose that"s her given name." Kuroko said, frowning a little. He turned to her. "May I know your name?"

Akashi chuckled a little at this. "Courteous as ever, Tetsuya."

"Fujiwara Mizuki. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu."

"Hai. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu, Fujiwara-san."

They resumed walking, and Akashi asked Kuroko what was he doing here in central Tokyo that Saturday.

"I accompanied Kagami-kun to the mall to buy basketball shoes."

Akashi smirked. So Seirin's ace was here. Their first meeting was very amusing to Akashi, to say the least.

"Aomine-kun and Momoi-san was also here with us. We met up with them just a while ago."

Sure enough, a few steps away from them stood Kagami, Aomine, and Momoi. The look on their faces was priceless when they took note of Mizuki's hands being held by Akashi.

"Akashi-kun never mentioned having a girlfriend, did he?" Momoi asked, more to herself than to her male companions.

"She has big boobs." Aomine said.

"Pervert Dai-chan!" Momoi smacked his arm. "If Akashi-kun heard you saying that, he'll send you to hell!"

Kagami snorted as he watched the advertisement shown on the screen on the walls of a building across the street. "I can't believe that someone in their sane mind would date a psycho like that Akashi." A moment of silence followed. He turned to look at his companions. "Wha—?"

"_Would you please repeat that, Kagami?_"

Kagami gulped. Right in front of him stood the emperor himself.

"_And don't worry, Daiki. I haven't forgotten about you either." _

"The he—!"

* * *

><p>Off to the side, Kuroko and Momoi can only pray. "May their souls rest in peace."<p>

When he was done terrorizing the two basketball idiots, Akashi introduced his companion to them. "Satsuki, Daiki, Taiga, this is Fujiwara Mizuki."

"Yoroshiku onegaishimasu." Mizuki said with a bow. What Akashi hadn't predicted was their reactions.

Momoi squealed, "Kawaii~!" before introducing herself. "Call me Sa-chan. Can I call you Mi-chan?"

Aomine thanked his dark skin tone for hiding his blush effectively. Damn Akashi. "Aomine Daiki. Nice to meet you too, Fujiwara-chan." What the hell did he just say?

Kagami was not as lucky as Aomine. He scratched his nape nervously as he refused to meet her warm gold eyes. "Kagami Taiga."

Akashi narrowed his eyes at the two. He suddenly became annoyed and felt the need to somehow get out of here. He doesn't like the way they look at Mizuki.

"Ano, Akashi-kun, have you and Fujiwara-san eaten lunch?" Kuroko intervened. He had felt Akashi's annoyance and decided to break the tension.

Akashi didn't answer, probably planning the perfect punishment for the two. Mizuki, fortunately, had heard Kuroko's question and tugged at Akashi's arm.

"Akashi, you promised."

To his amazement, Akashi's dark mood vanished.

"Aa." He said, a small smile on his lips. "Kuroko, no we haven't."

"Then would you mind joining us for lunch, Akashi-kun?"

"I was thinking of inviting all of you to join us instead. We're going to this famous pizzeria in Roppongi."

"If it wouldn't be too much, Akashi-kun."

"Oi, isn't that the the high end district?" Kagami said.

"How about Kagami-kun, Akashi-kun?"

Akashi waved his hand. "He can tag along."

Kuroko thanked him and wordlessly followed Akashi. Kagami trailed behind Aomine and Momoi, unsure of what to do.

"Kagamin, don't worry. Akashi will be the one to buy us lunch." Momoi said, glancing behind her. On her left, Aomine added. "It's like tradition. Whenever the team eats outside, Akashi always brings us to this fancy restaurants and would foot the bill. He's too rich to care where all his money goes. So just eat and order all you want — Akashi won't mind."

_Damn Akashi for being a rich guy. _Kagami thought. If only Kuroko hadn't brought up that topic.

They took two separate cabs to go to their destination, and he ended up riding with Aomine and Momoi. They got off and saw that they were going to eat in a famous pizzeria in Roppongi.

"Taiga, just order all you want. Get a lesson from Daiki." Akashi said once they settled on their chosen table. Aomine was the first to get a menu from the waiter and was now busy rattling off his choices to the baffled waiter. Akashi then told him, "Manners, Daiki. Don't order everything at once or it won't fit in our table."

"Do you serve milkshakes here?" He heard Kuroko ask from Mizuki's other side. He can't help but smile in amusement. Even if you serve Kuroko all the delicious food in the world, he'll only look for one thing. Milkshake.

"I'm sorry sir but we only serve fruitshakes and parfaits here. You can choose from our —"

"I presume you can make a special order." Akashi intercepted. "A milkshake is quite simple to do and it won't be the least ofa bother since all the needed ingredients are already in your kitchen. Is it not?" He raised his chin up a little, and fixed his mismatched eyes to the poor waiter.

"Akashi-kun, that's not necessary. I can live without milkshake for now." Kuroko said, a bit alarmed at Akashi' actions, although he had seen him do this a number of times when they were still in Teiko. However, he failed to notice how the waiter paled at the mention of the redhead's name, and sure enough, the waiter was already apologizing and assuring Akashi that they would serve his companion with as much milkshake as he want. Akashi can only smirk.

The group watched as the waiter bowed and rushed back to the kitchen, telling that he would inform the kitchen of the "special order" while a new waiter came to assist them. Akashi and Mizuki were the last to place their orders.

"I'll have this and this and... this." Mizuki laid a dainty finger on a chocolate parfait. Everyone on the table noticed how the waiter eyed the chartreusette, following the moves of her hand creepily. It didn't help that he brushed his hand on purpose with Mizuki's when she handed the menu back to him.

_What a lowlife. He needs to know his place. _Akashi was furious. When the waiter went over to get his order, he purposefully lowered his voice so that the waiter would have to lean closer to hear him. When he succeeded on doing so, he said in a threatening tone that only the waiter can hear him.

"_No one touches what is mine, or you might find yourself losing an arm or two in the future." _Then, as if he did not just threatened him, Akashi continued in a normal voice, "I'll have what the lady ordered."

"Y-yes s-sir!" And then, the waiter was gone also, in a hurry to get away from the intimidating guy with crimson hair.

"Oi, Akashi, what did you do to that guy? He looks like he's going to piss in his pants." Aomine asked.

"Language, Daiki. And are you accusing me?" He replied, his gaze fixed on the ganguro.

"O-of course not! I'm merely asking. Geez."

"I'm pretty certain that you threatened him, Akashi." Mizuki fiddled with the charms on her bracelet. "Why deny it?"

Aomine and Kagami was almost certain that Akashi would go all psycho and send flying scissors to Mizuki. Momoi was shocked speechless — no one talks to Akashi in that manner and get away with it. Even Kuroko looked tense, as if he was readying himself to pull Mizuki aside if the need arises. All of them were thinking the same thing: _Is she insane?_

Then the feared emperor did the unthinkable.

Jaws dropped. Eyes widened in shock. Is this really happening?

Because Akashi Seijuurou just freaking laughed.

Yep, you heard that right. THE Akashi Seijuurou just laughed. He didn't get mad, he didn't gave her a death glare nor send any of his beloved scissors to her face.

Instead, he laughed. Not a full blown laugh, mind you. It was more of a supressed chuckle, but laughing all the same. The four rubbed their eyes (Momoi even pinched her cheeks). It is true. They're not dreaming. Unfortunately(?), more is yet to come.

Mizuki frowned at Akashi. "It's not funny, Akashi." She crossed her arms in front of her and to Akashi's opinion, did the closest thing she can to a pout.

Seeing the assassin's childish side was a rare thing. He had only seen it a few times, each lasting for a seconds but not longer than two minutes. Akashi himself had his silly moments even though he doesn't like to admit it. He don't know why but everytime he sees Mizuki acting just like a normal high school girl makes him feel... happy. Or something like that.

He stopped laughing, although his mirth is still evident in his eyes and lips. The next words that came from his mouth just surprised their audience even more. "I'm sorry. I'm not laughing at you, if that's what you think."

_Did he just apologize?_ Kagami was getting more and more creeped out each passing second.

_Is this the Akashi I knew_? Aomine was having second doubts about this person on the other side of the table. _Not that Akashi has a twin brother or anything._

_Is this the effect of love on Akashi?_ Momoi was starting to have hearts in her eyes. _Oh my! They're so adorable together! Who would've thought Akashi has this side in him! Mi-chan, you're one lucky girl!_ She looked at Kuroko, who was silently watching the pair. _I wonder when Tetsu-kun will see me that way..._

The tealhead, however, has only one thought. As the two continued their harmless argument, he was amazed how Akashi didn't get mad at the way Mizuki talks to him. He smiled inwardly. Not that he was complaining, though.

_Welcome back, Akashi-kun._


	8. Chapter 8: You're His What!

**CHAPTER EIGHT: YOU'RE HIS... WHAT?!**

Akashi's phone vibrated in his pocket. Pulling it out, he slid the screen lock and instantly narrowed his eyes when he saw who the caller was.

He announced to his friends around the table, his tone now serious. He chose to ignore the weird looks that he received from them. "Excuse me. I have to take this call." And then, to Mizuki, he said, "I'll be outside for a moment."

"We'll wait for you then." She replied simply. And then he went out, phone already in his ear as he talked to his father to find out what the old man wants from him this time.

Mizuki was left by herself on the table, along with four people who were friends of her master. She was not one to start a conversation, so she simply stayed quiet. Not one of them was talking anyway.

Suddenly, the pinkette who introduced herself as Sa-chan leaned forward and asked her with a glint in her eyes. "Ne, Mi-chan, how did you and Akashi-kun met each other?"

"Hm?" Obviously, she cannot say that she was Akashi's bodyguard, so she just have to make a story. She figured Akashi was smart enough to be able to pick-up and won't say anything that will mess up with her made-up story. Thankfully, she had done this numerous times making it easy for her to do so. "We're classmates in Rakuzan. I transferred just this year."

"Oh? When did Akashi started courting you?" Momoi asked next.

Mizuki's eyes widened slightly in disbelief. As far as her knowledge on human relationships went, courting is something a person does to show his or her attraction to another. And she was certain that Akashi is not doing that to her. So she calmly answered Momoi, "You're certainly mistaken. Akashi and I are mere acquaintances."

"So this isn't a date?"

"No, it's not. He only promised to treat me to pizza."

"Eh? All the way from Kyoto?" Aomine asked. "Aren't there any pizza stores there?"

"Akashi said that this pizzeria is better than the ones in Kyoto."

"Akashi-kun is right. I remember reading that this store ranked number 1 in a Japan-wide poll on the best pizzeria award." Kuroko said.

"Well, Akashi sure knows how to pick them." Kagami joined in. He stopped the urge to whistle at the classiness of this pizzeria. The ambiance itself was enough to know that only high-class people can afford to dine in such a place. In fact, they were the only teenagers in the whole place. Everyone else were either old men in suits or young businessmen with their coats shed off, talking merrily with their girlfriends or fiancées.

"So you and Akashi are just friends?" Momoi asked again. To be honest, she was disappointed. She was almost certain that there was something going on with her former captain and this lime-haired beauty.

"Yes."

Their order then arrived in a cart pushed the second waiter. This time, not once did he as much as glance to Mizuki. He was relieved that the terror redhead was nowhere to be seen, but he wouldn't take his chances. As fast as he could, he placed their orders on their table and was gone as soon as he placed the last of their meals on their table.

Akashi returned just then, his eyes following the waiter as he went away from the table. He sat back on his seat with a satisfied smirk.

"Sorry for the wait. Shall we eat then?"

A chorus of "Itadakimasu" was heard, followed by the hearty eating of six hungry teens. Kuroko was greatly satisfied with his milkshake, evident by the smile in his eyes as he slurped his favorite beverage. Beside him, Mizuki ate her pizza with equal gusto.

"Fujiwara-san likes pizza very much," Kuroko commented.

She stopped halfway in the process of taking another bite of her pizza and answered Kuroko with a nod. "I do. Their pizzas are excellent indeed."

"I'm glad you found them to your liking." Akashi said. He watched as she finished one slice and picked up another.

"Yes. Thank you." She lowered her eyes, still unused to her current master's treatment of her. He was the only one whom she felt the need to show gratitude to, thus her awkwardness in saying 'thank you' to him.

They continued eating, and the boys soon talked about their common passion: basketball.

Soon, they finished their lunch and Akashi called one of the waiters to have their orders paid. Kagami then said, "Ano, Akashi... Thanks for the meal."

The smaller redhead just smirked. "Nothing to worry about, Taiga." He then pulled out his wallet and took several bills, and paid for their meal in cash, even including a generous tip for the waiter. Once outside, Akashi asked Mizuki if there's someplace she want to go to or visit.

"I don't know. How about them?" She said, indicating their other companions.

"There's a nearby park here." Kuroko offered. Since no one has a better suggestion, they walked to the park that Kuroko told them where they sat and chatted about random things. They saw that there was a streetball court in the area and the four guys decided to play a short game to pass the time. Aomine partnered with Akashi while the Seirin duo remained as teammates. Momoi kept score, and halftime ended with the points in favor of Akashi and Aomine. As the four sat panting on the bench, Momoi offered to get them some drinks from the vending machine just across the street.

"I'll go with you." Mizuki offered.

"Thanks, Mi-chan!" Momoi said happily. After asking their preferred drinks, the two went on their way.

* * *

><p>"So iced tea for Akashi-kun, grape for Aomine-kun, apple for Kagamin and Pocari for Tetsu-kun...," Momoi said slowly as she got the respective drinks from the machine. Mizuki stood beside it, leaning on a post. Just as the Pocari dropped to the slot, a group of gangsters appeared and one of them approached the unaware pinkette and laid a hand on her shoulder.<p>

"What a beautiful girl we have here." He sneered at the now terrified Momoi. She had experienced something like this back in middle school but Kuroko and the rest of the GoM was there to help her. But now—

"Get your filthy hands off her." Mizuki said, her head bowed, still unmoving from her position. The gang only laughed at her threat. One of them even commented, "Another hottie! More beautiful than this one, too! Say, boss, can we take the two of them?"

"Mi-chan!" Momoi had totally forgotten about the chartreusette in her moment of fear. "Run and call Akashi-kun and Aomine-kun! Quickly—Hmp!"

"Shut up! No one's leaving this area, especially Ms. Hot Stuff over there." The man holding Momoi had his hand covered over the pinkette's mouth as he looked Mizuki up and down in a rude manner.

"Don't worry. I don't plan on running away. Set her free." Mizuki said.

"Not if you play with us first, girlie."

"Play?" Mizuki raised her head, and her golden eyes shone with dark cold anger. Momoi shivered at the intensity of the hatred reflected in her eyes. Slowly, Mizuki removed herself from the post and stood up straight. "Fine. Let's play 'Who's Gonna Die First'."

Without warning, she lunged and placed a well-aimed kick to Momoi's captor, effectively making him back up a few steps away from the pinkette. Mizuki took the oppurtunity to pull Momoi over to and behind her.

"Are you alright?" She asked Momoi, who was still trembling a little.

"H-hai."

"You bitch! You'll pay for this!" The man had already stood back up, his face bloody as a result of his broken nose. He pulled back his fist and aimed a punch at Mizuki. However, Mizuki was fast to make a counterattack. Dancing out of his way, she went past him and delivered a quick jab at the pressure point at the back of his head. The man dropped to the ground with a heavy thud.

"Who's next?" She asked the other members of the gang. All of them gulped nervously. Shaking their heads, they backed down and ran away, leaving their fallen leader behind. When Mizuki turned around, she saw that Akashi and the rest were already there. Looks like Momoi had called them for back-up.

"When did you get here?" She asked them as she walked over to Akashi's side.

"Just in time to see you deliver the finishing blow to that man," he replied. His eyes were on her, checking for possible injuries. "Are you hurt?"

Mizuki smoothed down her skirt. "Not at all. Is Sa-chan all right?"

It was Aomine who answered her query. "Yes, she is. A bit shaken, but unharmed." Aomine then looked away, and said, "Thanks for protecting her."

"It was nothing." Mizuki said.

"Momoi-san is fine thanks to Fujiwara-san. Thank you." Kuroko said.

"Where did you learn those moves?" Kagami asked from where he was, crouched in front of the sleeping man. "That was amazing." He said as he searched the back of the head of the gang leader. "Where do you have to hit a person to make him pass out?"

He froze in place when hand came in contact with the back of his own head. "Here," Mizuki pressed two fingers gently on the spot, "at the base of the skull where it connects with the spinal column. With the right amount of pressure, you can render a person unconscious. Too much and you can kill him."

Kagami stood up and they walked back to the group huddled around Momoi. "Why do you know things like that?"

"I take martial arts lessons. They teach us all about pressure points there."

"I see." Kagami said. _No wonder she gets along with Akashi. Now I'm not sure who's more terrifying — knowledge on pressure points or flying scissors?_

_"_Mi-chan!" Momoi hugged Mizuki tightly, a few tears on her cheeks. "Thank you for saving me! You are so brave!"

Mizuki's eyes widened, unsure of how to respond. She looked Akashi in the eyes. He just nodded at her reassuringly as she hugged the pinkette back. "Don't cry now, Sa-chan. He's not going to touch you again."

"Man, how I wish I can kick that bastard where it hurts the most." Aomine muttered darkly. He may not show it much but he really cares for his childhood friend — in a brotherly way, of course.

"Fujiwara-san did a good job at teaching that man a lesson." Kuroko said. He may be calm when he said that, but he was actually mad right now. An Ignite Pass Kai to the face would have been a fitting punishment for this man's pervertness.

"Maybe it's better to send Satsuki home to rest. Daiki, you know what to do."

"Let's go, Satsuki." Aomine said.

"I'll go with you, Aomine-kun." Kuroko said. "Kagami-kun, do you mind?"

"No, I don't. I intend to pass by Maji's anyway." The taller redhead said. An agreement being reached, Kuroko turned to Akashi and bowed to him.

"Thank you again, Akashi-kun. Let's play again sometime."

"As many times as you want, Tetsuya." They shook hands after, and bid goodbyes to his old teammates as they went home. When he can no longer see them, he asked Mizuki where she wants to go next.

"We're not going back yet?" she asked him.

He glanced at his expensive timepiece. A little over three in the afternoon. Too early to go back to Kyoto.

"We still have time. Have you ever visited an aquarium, Mizuki?"

"No."

"Let's go then."

* * *

><p>"What do you call those creatures?" Mizuki asked while pointing through the glass that separates them from the ocean itself. They were now in the third level, where one can observe sharks and other sea organisms that live in the deeper parts of the waters.<p>

"Which one are you talking about, Mizuki?" Akashi asked, inching closer beside her.

"That orange-striped fish darting in and out from those plant-like creatures. What are they?"

"Those are clownfish, and the plant-like creatures are sea anemones. Those two organisms live in a symbiotic relationship where both benefit from one another. The sea anemones provide shelter for the clownfish while the clownfish in turn provides food for the sea anemone in some way," he explained.

"I see..." Mizuki said, still watching as the clownfish darted in and out of the sea anemones. A new creature wandered in her view. Another fish with long fins and orange stripes.

"How about that one?" She asked again.

"That's a lionfish. It carries poison in its fins." Akashi answered. "Would you like to see the dolphins?"

She nodded. Akashi took her hand and led her upstairs where the dolphins are kept. A man ushered them inside and soon, they stood beside the pool where the creatures are swimming gracefully in the water. A man was in the water along with them. The two watched as the man ordered the dolphins to perform some tricks for them.

"Would the beautiful lady and the handsome gentleman here like to try to feed them?" The trainer asked them.

Akashi nodded and the man handed them a bucket of fish and demonstrated the proper way to do it. When it was their turn, Akashi saw Mizuki smile when she fed her first dolphin succesfully.

When their bucket was empty, the trainer showed them where to wash their hands and led them outside. They then went on to see the seals and their ball-balancing act, and the penguins inside their Arctic pen. In the aquarium's souvenir shop, Akashi got Mizuki a medium-sized penguin chick plushie.

"Here. As a remembrance of your first aquarium visit." He held the item to her which she accepted hesitantly. She looked at the plushie intently for a few minutes, then asked Akashi the question that had been bothering her for a quite a while now.

"Why?" Her voice was a whisper, but Akashi heard it perfectly.

"Why what, Mizuki?" He was puzzled. What went wrong? She was smiling all the while earlier, so what happened that made her looked depressed?

"This." She gripped the penguin plushie tighter, her bangs hiding her eyes from view. "Why are you doing all this, Akashi?"

_Why indeed? If you look at it, she's just one of the many people hired to work for the company. I hardly know a thing about her and we only met months ago. So why the sudden kindness to her?_

"Are you not fine with this, Mizuki?Did you not enjoy today's activities?"

"It's not that. I —"

"Then there's nothing to be worried about. Where do you want to go for dinner? I was thinking of eating here in Tokyo before we go back to the manor."

Akashi knew that he was purposely avoiding the topic but he doesn't have any other option. How can he even answer her question if he himself doesn't know the answer to it?

If Kuroko taught him defeat, then Mizuki was the one who introduced him to the word "uncertainty".

When Mizuki didn't budge, Akashi sighed. "Mizuki, just because your previous employers treated you otherwise do not mean that I'm going to treat you the same as they did. I understand that kindness is new to you but as long as you are my bodyguard, I have to say that you might as well get used to it." His explanation was somewhat rude but he can't say it any other way. He just hope that she will somehow understand what he really meant.

He held out his hand to her. In other circumstances, he would've been ordering her to do as he says so. Mizuki only defies his orders when she feels that it hinders her from doing her job or when she thinks that it would harm him in the future. But in things like this, Akashi just have to drop the "master" card and she would heed him, no questions asked. But then, he had promised himself that he would make her human back again, and the first part of his plan was to let her know "kindness". Who knows how much violence she had seen and experience to make her numb to everything around her. Getting a genuine reaction from her was hard enough, which was why he was pleased to see her smile while he showed her around the aquarium. Even though it was a small one, it was a genuine smile, not the fake ones that she uses when she has to deal with other persons. It was an improvement in Akashi's judgment.

"You once asked me to trust you. And I did. So I will ask you the same thing." He raised her chin with his hand and looked her in the eyes. He could see confusion in her golden orbs. He removed his hand from her face. "Can you trust me?"

In what seemed like an eternity passed by before she took a step toward him and placed her hand in his waiting palm. A soft smile formed on Akashi's lips. He held her hand firmly and together they walked outside. Then she spoke. It was faint, but Akashi heard it perfectly.

"I'll — I'll try."

He smiled again. It really is an improvement.


End file.
